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Hi! I'm Kevin and this is my first post. I met Raman when we both used to work for a big company that makes shampoo (and other products). I'm now in New York as of 2011, having moved on to a new company and a new city.
A quick bit on my musical taste: I am quite mainstream, judging by my quick perusal of the artists reviewed by this group, however, within the mainstream, I like many genres of music, whether rock, pop, electronic, country, metal and rap. The only music I don't tend to find myself listening to is jazz.Anyway, I realized when tasked with this review that I am painfully behind on music, as I had a very hard time finding anything that I've discovered since before I met my husband (in 2011). Yikes.
That being said, for this post, I will over Kelis' (yes, Kelis!) album Flesh Tone from 2010. Something I like to do is to see what "one hit wonder" artists are up to after their one hit has gone away, whether it's Kelis, Fountains of Wayne, Nada Surf, etc.
https://app.box.com/s/jublgowlxru7rt5drurx
I saw Kelis performing a few tracks off of Flesh Tone at gay pride in Los Angeles and was quite impressed so I decided to give the album a whirl.
Key findings:
- The album is at the intersection of pop and electronic music. The tracks are pop-length short (~3 mins each) but the beat is that of electronic music and the voice and lyrics take a higher level of importance than in a lot of electronic dance music.
- There is a lot more to Kelis than her Milkshake bringing all the boys to the yard. Perhaps this is why she isn't a one hit wonder in Europe.
- It does just so happen that the track 4th of July is one of my favorites on the album, and being that I appreciate relating the unrelated, I thought this track helped make this the perfect to post about Flesh Tone.
My favorite tracks on the album (other than 4th of July) are Acapella and Scream, but I can listen to the album start to finish without feeling the need to skip over anything.
Writing this post inspires me to get back on the music bandwagon and check out what Kelis (and some of my other favorite artists) are up to lately.
Have a great week everyone!
For me, this album sounds like something from the soundtrack of my late teens/early twenties - clubbing, dancing, staying out on the town all night and sleeping all the next day... sleeping in. Three kids on and I still *almost* remember what sleeping in is...
ReplyDeleteSorry. Where was I?
I liked the music. The constant, almost hypnotic beat is the sort of thing I like to listen to when I'm working. But the repetitive vocals really got stuck in my head and not in a good way. Being told to "emancipate myself" forty six times in three and a half minutes... it was like verbal blunt force trauma.
3.5 for me.
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ReplyDeleteI haven't listened yet, but I was planning on putting her new album "Food" on this blog since its release date was the Tuesday of the week I was scheduled to go (April 22). I couldn't find it at either of two record stores or the Best Buy in Mentor, OH, so I figure she had officially become niche.
ReplyDeleteThough since you are putting up an album from 2010, I think I will probably put up an album from a certain artist that has her name tatooed on his arm.
Lastly, I finally read, "The Long Tail" and it was interesting how music is consumed so genre specific. I don't think most urban contemporary listeners would consider Kelis a one-hit wonder, with some of the killer production she got with Pharrell Williams at the beginning of her career including "Milkshake" but also "Caught Out There" and ODB's "Got Your Money". And later "Bossy" and a lot of stuff she did with her ex-husband. Reading the book helped me understand how someone who didn't listen to urban contemporary could think Robin Thicke was a one hit wonder when to me he was one of the biggest R&B artist of the mid-00's, with rap artist like Lil' Wayne, Rick Ross, and 50 cent wanting and getting him to sing on their songs.
If I were heavily intoxicated, 18, and hanging out in a dance club in The Valley then I might enjoy this. But since I'm stone cold sober, 34, and sitting at my desk I didn't find this album particularly appealing. Emancipate myself...ahhhh, kill myself! 1.5 for me.
ReplyDeleteSorry I'm a bit late to the party. I was actually excited to listen to this. Kelis is a three hit wonder for me (Milkshake, Bossy and Trick Me...). I danced a lot to those songs in High School and still listen to them occasionally - out of nostalgia I guess, my music taste has changed a lot. I guess I just had no idea she had more that came out.
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised to see her go electro although 2010 seemed ahead of the curve for that kind of combination. Not the most succesful for me and to Ben's point, I think I might be too sober for it. I'm giving it a 2.
Reminded me a lot of Daft Punk, but not quite as good. Still very nice to run to. I haven't heard anything from Kellis since Milkshake, so this was a nice surprise.
ReplyDelete3.5/5 from me.